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Ellyas Pical

Photo by Boxing Bob Newman

If you talk to a modern day boxing fan about Indonesia one name stands out. Chris John. It may have to believe it however but Chris John isn't the first world champion from Indonesia, in fact "The Dragon" is the 3rd Indonesian to have claimed a world title.

The first Indonesian to claim a world title was the long forgotten Ellyas Pical (20-5-1, 11), a man who was a 3-time world champion and one of the most stunning punchers in Super Flyweight history. In fatc it was due to his powerful left hand that Pical was later dubbed "the Exocet" after the rockets the British had been using in the Falklands war.

Pical was born in 1960 in the tiny village of Ullath on the Indonesian island of Saparua. Due to the area of Saparua, Pical became a pearl diver collecting pearls from the near by seas.

Pical had picked up the sport of boxing in his teens after seeing Muhammad Ali on Indonesian channel TVRI.

The first time Pical appeared on the boxing map was in 1980 when, as an amateur, he competed at the 3rd President's Cup in Jakarta. Pical's skills showed through back then as the young fighter claimed the Gold medal in the 51KG division, a weight class that appears to have also had Kim Ji-Won involved in it.

A little over 18 months after Pical had claimed the President's Cup his compatriot Thomas Americo fought Saoul Mamby for the WBC Welterweight title.This was the first ever world title fight in Indonesia, and it was the first world title fight featuring an Indonesia.

Although Americo came up short against Mamby he had effectively put Indonesia on the boxing map.

Pical would begin his own professional boxing journey in 1982 when he was aged 22.

As with many fighters, especially in the East, Pical's early opponents were obscure and many only have a sole recorded fight. What we do know about his early career however is that Pical suffered his first defeat 1983 losing a decision Edward Apay before claiming the Indonesian Super Flyweight title later that same year.

It was in 1984 Pical really began to make his name. He started the year by stopping former world title challenger Prayurasak Muangsurin inside a round in Thailand, just a fight later he claimed the OPBF Super Flyweight title by traveling to South Korea and claiming a decision over Hi-Young Chung.

After defending the OPBF title once, stopping Mutsuo Watanabe, Pical was given his first world title fight. Pical's opponent was the then IBF Super Flyweight champion Ju-Do Chun who took to the ring not only the world title but also a very impressive record of 19-1-3 (10).

Despite the fact Pical was the challenger he was fighting at home having managed to bring Chun from Korea over to the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. The stadium was filled to the rafters with fans well behind Pical and wanting to see history made. Those fans were given their wishes in round 8 when Pical landed his concussive left hand, which sent Chun to the canvas for the count whilst the crowd erupted in celebration.

Pical would defend the title just months after winning it as he stopped Wayne Mulholland in 3 rounds. Unfortunately this would be the only successful defense in his first reign.

Pical's reign came to an end after just 9 months when he was upset by Cesar Polanco who used intelligent skills and movement to neutralise the power of Pical. This loss saw Pical's record falling to 12-2 (8).

Pical would avenge his loss to Polanco just 5 months later as he stopped Polanco with a body shot to regain the title, thus becoming Indonesia's first ever 2-time world champion.

Like in his first reign Pical would only defend the belt once, stopping Dong-Chun Lee in 10 rounds. This time however Pical wouldn't lose the title in the ring but it was taken from him due to political reasons as he was wanting to fight for the WBA title against Thai great Khaosai Galaxy. Unfortunately for Pical he failed in his attempt to claim the WBA title as Galaxy stopped him in the 14th round.

Some 8 months after the loss to Galaxy, Pical returned to world title action as he took on Tae-Il Chang, the man who had claimed the IBF title that had been taken from Pical. Although Chang gave Pical an incredibly tough contest Pical managed to do enough to take the decision, albeit a split one with Korean judge Jae-Keun Kim favouring his countryman.

Now a 3-time world champion Pical was going to make this reign last and this time he managed to defend the belt 3 times taking decisions over Raul Ernesto Diaz, Ki-Chang Kim and Mike Phelps. Of the 3 it was the victory over Phelps that stands out as it was the first ever world title fight in Singapore, a place where Chris John has also been fighting in recent years.

Unfortunately Pical's 3rd reign came to an end in 1989 when he made his US debut and was defeated by American based Colombian Juan Polo Perez. Sadly Pical was flat throughout much of the bout and was even dropped late by Perez.

Although Pical would fight on his career would never reach the heights of being a world champion again and after a loss to Greg Richardson and a draw to Charles Hery, Pical would hang them up, aged 30.

Pical would return to the ring just once more, some 10 years later, where he claimed a decision over an obscure opponent to move his record to 20-5-1 (11).

Since retiring Pical has had a relatively relaxing life living with his wife, though he did spend 7 months in prison on a drugs charge. He currently works for the National Sports Committee of Indonesia (or as the Indonesian's call it Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia, abbreviated KONI), the Indonesian Olympic Committee. A job that allows him to continue in sport despite now being in his 50's.

The video below thanks to Matt McGgrain and Ragingbull_22 shows Pical claiming his first world title and stopping Chun in spectacular fashion. Sadly it appears not much footage of Pical is "out in the open" though as you can see from this 12 minute clip, he has vicious power, especially in his left hand.